RPT-UPDATE 6-Gold ends tad lower but strong physical demand seen

(Refiles, eliminates extraneous word in paragraph 6)

* Investors buy coins and bars, jewellery after price fall

* Platinum, palladium lower on sluggish demand outlook (Recasts, updates prices, market activity to market close; adds second byline, dateline, previously LONDON)

By Frank Tang and Jan Harvey

NEW YORK/LONDON, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Gold ended slightly lower on Wednesday, dragged by a higher dollar but buoyed by oil's gains and investor demand for coins and bars, along with resurgent demand from the jewelry industry.

Gold <XAU=> was at $810.35/811.75 an ounce by New York's last quote at 2:15 p.m. EDT (1815 GMT), down from $810.70/811.90 late in New York on Tuesday but well above the nine-month low of $773.90 it touched on Friday.

"The stability in prices we have seen over the last few days has been enough to ensure a decent uptick in interest from the consumer side," said Daniel Hynes, metals strategist at Merrill Lynch.

"We are approaching a seasonally high demand period as well," he added.

Demand for certain finished products is so high that refiners are struggling to keep up, analysts said.

Gold climbed to a one-week high in Asia, pulling other precious metals in its wake, as regional demand picked up.

Buyers in India, the world's biggest market for gold, should step up gold purchases ahead of a series of religious festivals that culminate in October with Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.

There was not yet enough evidence the gold market has hit bottom, since the dollar may strengthen more, said David Rinehimer, director at Citi Futures Perspective in New York.

"However, considering gold has dropped so far, any upward price adjustment will not be that much of a surprise, particularly if the equity market will be going back on the defensive," Rinehimer said.

The U.S. gold contract for December delivery GCZ8 settled down 50 cents at $816.30 an ounce on the COMEX division of New York Mercantile Exchange.

U.S. crude oil futures CLc1 ended slightly higher at nearly $115 a barrel in spite of a sharp rise in U.S. crude inventory [O/R]. Goldman Sachs reiterated its call for a year-end price of $149 a barrel for crude. Such a rise should boost gold, often bought as a hedge against oil-led inflation.

GOLD ETF HOLDINGS DIP  Continued...